Background: Fisher Funeral Home in Redford, Mich. (WXYZ). Inset: Rhonda Hollis (The Hollis Family).
A Michigan family intends to sue a funeral home that was supposed to cremate their mother’s remains after holding a viewing but mistakenly cremated her before that viewing was held.
Rhonda Hollis, 42, died unexpectedly on Nov. 23 and her devastated family scheduled a viewing for Dec. 17 at Fisher Funeral Home. Her cremation was intended to take place afterward. But on Dec. 12, days before the Hollis family was to say their final goodbyes and see their loved one for the last time, they received a call from the owner of the funeral home — Hollis’ remains had already been cremated by mistake.
In an interview with Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ, members of the Hollis family recounted the news that only compounded their grief. Kathy Hollis, Rhonda’s mother, was the one who received the call from Mike Fisher. She said, “We got the call on December the 12th that Mr. Mike Fisher had said that her body was cremated that day. And I questioned him — how could her body be cremated when we didn’t have the service yet? And he stated that one of his staff accidentally had her cremated.”
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WXYZ asked the funeral home about the date of Hollis’ cremation, which was actually Dec. 4. The family allegedly wasn’t notified until Dec. 12, more than a week later.
Hollis’ daughter, Saijae Hollis told WXYZ, “I’m supposed to be at a viewing looking at my mom and I can’t.” She said, “We were hoping that we would be able to give her her last homegoing, and actually make sure she looked pretty and just send her off, and the family could say their final goodbyes and we could cope from there. But it didn’t happen like that.”
Fisher Funeral Home provided a written statement to WXYZ, calling the mistake “a very unfortunate situation.” They said, “Because of a mistake, a person who was supposed to be cremated after a memorial service was cremated before the opportunity for loved ones to gather for a service. We immediately apologized to the family and understand why they are upset. This is not reflective of the care that we provide to our community and we deeply regret that this has occurred. We have served Southeast Michigan for nearly 70 years. Nothing like this has ever happened before nor will it again.”
The Hollis family retained attorney Ivan Land, who said that the family intends to sue Fisher Funeral Home for breach of contract, negligence, fraudulent misrepresentation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Land told WXYZ, “You cannot make a mistake when you are dealing with someone’s loved one that has passed away. Zero tolerance. You cannot make a mistake.”
